In nvALT, I have a naming structure that acts like tags for the name of the text file. For example:

bookx_Getting Things Done by David Allen

ideax_Design ideas for productivityguild.com

recipex_Chocolate Chip Cookies

That makes it possible for me to search them in nvALT on the Mac or in Editorial on my phone.

The file structure is pretty basic. I keep a folder of projects that handle any images or random docs I accumulate on the project. If it’s an email of sorts, I grab hyperlinks to them and add it to the notes field for a project.

Hmmm. I worked that system a few years ago…I think i moved on because of the friction around images. But I do like that it’s simple and that plain text files can be indexed in Devonthink and can be accessed in Ulysses.

I may throw this back into the consideration set.

Related - I know Dr. Terpstra has been working on a new NVAlt style app…really looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

I’ve been a 'DevonThink fan for a long time. I always look for software that can export out of its database to keep my options. It exports out as folders and files back to the Finder whenever I need it. I’ll never get trapped in a proprietary system. That’s something that I’ve heard from Evernote users. They’re kinda stuck in the Evernote ecosystem and it may not be easy to export all of your files.

I can create folders and group files as needed. It has a unique search engine that can find similar files by spotlighting the contents. There are also shortcut links or alias links to represent a a file in different folders. It can also detect duplicate files in the database.

I haven’t really gotten around to it but there is a DevonThink app for iOS which supposedly does syncing. So that’s a bonus.

I’m sure I’m not in a very unique spot, using a Windows environment at work. I thankfully have a way to use my Mac alongside that, but not everyone does.

My current set up is like this -

OneNote for work (I deal with HR docs so I need to keep that in the work system, which is all Microsoft)

Evernote for doc scanning, project notes, etc., outside work

Apple Notes (sometimes) for quick notes or reference items

My Evernote subscription expires soon. I’m really on the fence about what to do with that.

OneNote on Mac is a little too cumbersome if you want to work outside of Office applications (and on iOS it’s just not very good).

Apple Notes is similar to what I want, but I find the folder-only organization limiting for how I think.

Bear has come closest to what I’m looking for in a note taking system. It’s clean, Markdown-driven, and is plaintext at the core. I like its approach to tagging. The visualization is what makes it for me, as it’s basically how you could tag a note using Apple Notes or nvALT, but you don’t have to remember those tags.

I’ve looked at DEVONthink in the past, but it’s too expensive and clunky feeling to justify switching to it. If I’m going to invest in using DEVONthink, it’s going to be for OCR’ed PDFs and images as well as notes. That being said, you can get pretty close using some files/folders in Dropbox and scanning them with your phone.

I think I may give Bear a shot for note taking. I have also used Evernote for a digital file cabinet of sorts. Instead, I’m exploring (again) a Dropbox-based file/folder setup. I simply need to think through how I’m going to automate the maintenance of it.

I’m catching up on my Instapaper feed and ran across this article by Shawn Blanc. Shawn spends a lot of time writing and capturing notes in general so my sense is that his opinion would be pretty solid. He’s currently leaning on Ulysses.

I’ve thought about Ulysses. It’s where I do my writing. I really like it.

Benjamin Brooks uses it for notes and writing. Though it looks like he’s impressed with the new ios11 notes app…so who knows what he’s doing now.

I do like the simplicity of using one app. I’m just thinking about working split screen on iOS. Also, the images!

The plan that I was going to implement today involved Drafts for capture, Ulysses for writing and DEVONthink as central hub for notes/reference.

DEVONthink would arranged in Three databases:

Personal

Professional

Commonplace

Personal and professional would be structured with folders. Everything from active project info to meeting notes to lists to reference documents.

Commonplace would be where short notes would go: things that are inspiring, or interesting, or may come in useful someday.

Probably would organize it through tags at first, but maybe folders could emerge as coherent collections start to come together. The beauty would be the lack of structure and seeing what emerges.

Notes going into Commonplace do need to be processed, however. I don’t want it to become a junk drawer of forgotten good intentions the way Evernote did.

In DEVONthink, every database has an Inbox. The Inbox in Commonplace can then act as a clearinghouse. Everything that is collected should be processed from being just collected stuff into knowledge. What does it mean? Why did I collect it? What might it relate to? All of that info may be captured alongside the note. It’ll then be tagged and set loose in the larger collection.

DEVONthink works well for this because having multiple databases nullifies any penalties in search or otherwise that come from collecting tons and tons of shirt notes.

However, I don’t want things to disappear forever without being useful like I saw happen with Evernote. Not easy, but I’d like to make reviewing the contents a regular occurrence. Maybe quarterly? I want this to be a useful collection of knowledge.

In any case…maybe Ulysses could play a larger role. Something to experiment with.

I’ve settled on a combination of Bear and Dropbox for my reference libraries. I haven’t had a chance to fully go in and set them up yet, but here’s what I’m thinking:

Bear

Anything notes, text, research, or otherwise will go into Bear. I need to devise a tagging structure. I absolutely enjoy Bear’s nested tags. The only thing missing is a popup showing tags you already used when inputting one into a note.

Dropbox

This will be used for any scans I used to use Evernote to store. I’ll have a simple filing structure:

| Year
|–Personal
|–Business

I plan on using an app like Scanner Pro to scan these files, name accordingly, and save to an Inbox folder. Hazel will watch the inbox folder and file appropriately based upon the name. I’ll also probably tag files as well depending on type.